"Say My Name, Say My Name" | Viny Costa

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Good morning.

Morning, you watching online.

Welcome to the second week of our summer school series.

We are all very excited about this series and we plan it to be more teachy than preachy.

We want this to be a class without a test.

So we're very excited about that.

Over the next four weeks, we will dive into some topics from a more theological perspective.

And we want you to walk away from church thinking, I learned something new today, and I am ready to put into practice right now.

I'm ready.

Last week, Pastor Nate unpacked a little bit about theology.

And being very, very honest with you guys, theology isn't worth much if it is not alive and applicable.

So we want to definitely teach you something that can change your relationship with God, that can revolutionize your relationship with God.

And last week, Pastor Nate did a phenomenal job.

Who was here last week?

Yes.

He did a phenomenal job with soteriology.

And today I'm very excited to share with you what I believe God has for us.

Last week, Pastor Nate started with a personal disclaimer.

And guess what?

I have a personal disclaimer too.

My personal disclaimer is teaching is my passion.

I believe I was born to do this.

But I never imagined one day I would be doing this in English.

So you'll see how complicated is.

Even though it's my passion, it's not my first language.

So I will do my best to communicate with you what I have inside my chest burning, and I have no sermon, I have no script, I will be freely speaking, freely teaching.

So I would love to ask you to bear with me if my English is not a hundred percent perfect.

Can you promise me if you don't understand something you will do?

Vini, can you go back real quick?

Do you promise that?

I would love that.

Since this is a church slash class this morning.

Are you guys excited?

God, thank you so much for this morning.

We are so ready for you.

We praise you already.

We worship you with our giving.

And now we are ready to receive what you have for us this morning.

We don't want theology, God.

We want relationship.

Of course, we want to understand you better, and that's why we are here.

But we want to learn you with our hearts and not necessarily with our brain this morning.

So we are open so you can plant inside of us your eternal seeds in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Say my name, say my name.

When no one is no, let's stop right there.

That's not something easy to ask because the answer can vary depending on who you ask.

When I was born, my parents, they named me Vinicius.

I love when you guys call me Vinicius.

Actually, I think Vinitius is better than Vinicius.

But Vinitius is my name.

But guess what?

In Brazil, nobody call me Vinicius.

We like to shorter the name, so everybody in Brazil call me?

No.

V.

V is my name in Brazil.

Everybody call me V there.

But not here in US.

In US, you guys don't call me Vinicius, you guys don't call me V.

You guys call me Vini Vini.

Or Vinnie, which is the Chick-fil-A version of my name.

Vinny.

There's one more example here, and this only happens maybe twice, maybe three, ten, maybe nineteen, twenty-two times a year.

That's when my wife is angry at me.

Or she wants to have my attention, she calls me Vinicius.

Right there.

You see, we have at least four examples, but we're talking about the same person, right?

And it's interesting because something similar happens with God.

Here in the US, when you are praying, when you are reading your Bible, when you are talking about God, you call him God.

But we if we take a plan and if we go to Spain or Uruguay or you tell me.

Here we go.

Venezuela.

They don't say God.

They say Dios.

Well, let's go to Angola, Portugal, let's go to Brazil.

We don't say God, we don't say Dios, we say we say Deus.

Let's take a plane, let's go to Italy, and before having an amazing pasta together, we will pray.

And guess what?

We're not praying for God or Dios or Deus, we're praying for Dio.

Isn't it interesting?

It's more interesting when we think about Genesis chapter 1, verse 1.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The very interesting thing about this verse is the Bible is not trying to prove for me and for you that God exists, right?

In the beginning, God.

God was there.

There's no such a thing as 15 reasons why you should believe in God.

No, the Bible is not concerned about that.

The Bible is in the beginning, God.

God was already there.

This South American theologian that I love he says, God doesn't exist.

God is.

You exist, or may exist, everything else exists but God.

God is.

Everything that exists is just an overflow of this God who is.

Genesis 1:1.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

As you know, the Bible in the original language was not written in English.

It was written in Hebrew.

And then in Hebrew, this verse is bereshit bara Elohim et Hashtamain ved haritz.

Which a free translation of this would be in the beginning, God created out of nowhere heavens and the earth.

Bereshit bara Elohim.

Elohim is the name of God in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1.

Genesis 1:1

Even though in your Bible in English is God, in the Bible in Hebrew is Elohim.

Are you guys here with me?

But if you turn the pages of your Bible and if you go to Genesis chapter 15, you will see the relationship that Abraham had with God.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

And let me tell you something.

Every time Abraham is talking with God, he he's not calling God God, he's not calling God Deus, he's not calling God Elohim.

Abraham calls God El Shaddai.

Which means all powerful or God Almighty.

And then if we turn the pages of our Bible to one of the Psalms, for example, we're gonna we're gonna see a couple of Psalms that David wrote.

And probably one of the most famous ones is Psalm 19.

Psalm 19 is the favorite psalm of my favorite author, C.S.

Lewis.

Psalm 19 is also considered by one of the great greatest theologians of all time, Charles Spurgeon, to be one of the most important psalms in the Bible.

So Psalm 19, verse 1, David goes and he writes like this: The heavens declare the glory of God.

Psalms 19:1

In English, the word we have right there is God.

But when David wrote this one, the word he used was the word El.

The heavens declare the glory of El.

You guys, God, Spanish speakers, Dios, Italian speakers, Dio, Portuguese speakers, Deus, Genesis 1, Elohim, Genesis 15, El Shaddai, Psalm 19, El.

But something that we need to understand here, right now, and this is very important for everything else we're gonna be talking this morning, is God, Dios, Deus, Dio Elohim, Al Shaddai, El, they are not the name of God, they are just titles.

Titles.

Vini, what are you talking about?

Are you telling me that God is not the name of God?

Yes.

Vinitius is my name, her name is Juliana, her name is Valerie, her name is Madison, but God is not the name of God.

God is just a title for this being who doesn't exist.

He is.

Are you guys here with me?

So God, He has a personal name.

A name that is his.

What is His name?

You tell me.

If God is not God's name, what's His name?

Can you imagine worshiping, serving, obeying a God that you don't even know a name?

Come on.

God has a personal name.

And Moses was very curious about that.

So Moses was the first one who asked.

Moses was like, okay, if you have a personal name, what is it?

I need to know.

How many of us would be very curious and ask God the same question?

Alright.

Hey God, is your name Michael?

What's your name?

So Moses decided to ask in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

You will remember Genesis is in a desert, and then it did I say Genesis?

Moses is in a is in a desert, and then he sees a burning bush, right?

And then there is a voice coming out of that, and he's just talking with God.

And what God tells him is, I want you to go back to Egypt, and I want you to take my people from Egypt, and I want you to take them to the promised land.

And then Moses, he goes, All right, I can do that.

I will I'll go back, I'll tell them.

But in case, let's just let's play here.

What if they ask, What's your name?

What should I say?

So Exodus chapter 3, verse 13, we have that conversation.

Exodus 3:13

Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What's your name?

What should I what shall I say to them?

God said to Moses, So are you ready?

God is about to tell Moses his name.

This is the first time God will do this in the Bible.

First time God will reveal to Moses his personal name, and God said to Moses, I am who I am.

And he said, Say this to the people of Israel.

I am has sent you.

God said something to Moses.

God said something to Moses.

God said a little word right here, where in your Bible you read, I am who I am.

There is an there is a word in Hebrew right there.

And this word is super little, four consonants, okay?

So in Hebrew, what God is saying here, he's saying, My name is in Hebrew, Iod.

Hey, Vav.

Hey.

This is what you will find in the original Hebrew.

The name of God, four little letters, four consonants, yod, hey, vav, hey.

And then if we want to translate that to English, Yod is equivalent to Y.

He is equivalent to H.

Vav is equivalent to W.

And He is equivalent to H.

So this is what God said.

Hey Moses, are you ready?

This is my name.

Y H W H.

The four letters that make up the name of God in theology is known by Tetragrammatun.

Tetragrammaton is Y H W H.

The name of God.

What's the problem here, Vini?

The problem is in Hebrew, in biblical Hebrew, we have no vows.

So can you please read this?

Can you please read this to me?

It's impossible.

It's impossible.

And I'll tell you why.

Because the biblical Hebrew, it was it's it's a type of language that it's understood by a normal tradition.

They know how to write, but the only way for them to know how to pronounce is if someone else teach them how.

Are you guys here with me?

So in Exodus chapter 3, God said, My name is, and Moses got that, and Moses said that to other people, they know the name of God, but today we cannot say the name of God because we don't have the vows.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

And then you would ask me, Vinny, but in my Bible, I don't have this.

What I have in my Bible is I am what I am.

Yes, because our translation decided to put in our Bibles the meaning of the name.

But can I be very honest with you?

Since Hebrew is a very complex language, if we take this two, and then if we take this two, and then if we take this two, if we break this down, this word will give us an idea of a continuing action.

So the perfect translation for this is not only I am what I am, but it's pretty much I was what I was, I am what I am, and in the future I will be what I will be.

Because this is a continuing action, it's happening, it's evolving.

So what God is saying to Moses here in Exodus 3, He's saying, Hey Moses, this is my name, and the the meaning of my name is a continuing action.

This is my personal name, and since I'm revealing this to you in our personal relationship, let me tell you what it means for you.

It means that in the past, in your life, in the world, I was what I was, in the present, in your life, in the world, I am what I am, and in the future, in your life, in the world, I will be what I will be.

This is the meaning of this powerful, holy name.

How many times we see this name in the Bible?

How many times you you guys think?

How many?

Twenty-seven times.

More.

How many?

Hate me, church.

How many?

More.

More.

More than five thousand times we see this in the Bible.

God just telling to the people, I am, I am what I am, I was what I was, I will be what I will be.

And this is so important for a Jew that in Hebrew they don't have the expression I am.

Do you know that?

In Hebrew, it's impossible to say, I am a professor, I am a teacher.

In Hebrew, you say I teacher, I professor, because I am is just God.

Only Him.

He's holy, He has a personal name, He's separated, and He's kind enough, He's good enough to share His personal name with Moses, with all of us, to let us know that in the past, in a present, in a future, He will be what He is.

Are you guys here with me?

So we know his name.

Or Y H W H.

We know the meaning of his name.

I was what I was, I am what I am, I will be what I will be.

But we don't know how to pronounce his name.

And people have tried.

Some people will say, no, no, no, hey, if we add an A here, and if we add an E here, the name would be Yahweh.

No, no, this is not an E for sure.

This is probably a U.

So the name is Yahu.

People have tried, but because of the oral tradition, we don't know how to pronounce it anymore.

And I'll tell you why.

Because one day in Exodus chapter 20, Moses had an encounter with his personal God.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

And God gave to him what we know as the Ten Commandments.

Yes?

One of the commandments, Exodus chapter 20, verse 7, it says, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Exodus 20:7

For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who take his name in vain.

A different translation of the same verse will say, You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

So when God said that to Moses and Moses said that to the people, this is what they understood.

They understood that saying the name of God was the way to misuse God's name.

What they understood is I cannot say it, because if I say his name, it's sin.

But it's very important for us to understand that the Bible never said, Don't say the name of the of your God in vain.

The Bible says, Don't take, don't misuse the name of your God in vain.

Can I share with you a personal opinion what the Bible is trying to teach us with this commandment right here?

For me, the commandment in Exodus chapter 20, it's not about saying God's name, it's about not representing him correctly.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Don't take my name in vain.

Don't represent represent me badly.

Because if you say God is your God, your behavior must be aligned with your belief.

If God is your God, you don't kill.

If God is your God, you don't cheat on your life.

If God is your God, you are generous.

If God is your God, you don't like.

If God is your God, you are good, you are kind.

So when the when the Bible is saying don't take the name of God in vain, what the Bible is saying has nothing to do with saying the name of God.

The Bible is saying don't represent him badly.

To a point that someone will look at you and go, Are you Christian?

That hurts.

That's what the Bible is trying to teach here.

Don't take his name in vain.

So what they the Jews decided to do?

Well, if we cannot take his name in vain, that must mean that we cannot say his name.

So once a year, once in year, just the high priest, one person once a year would say the name of God.

Everybody else, we cannot say it.

Because if we do, we are breaking one of the commandments.

Out of their religiosity, out of their zeal, they decided not to say the name of God.

But that's a problem.

Because I told you guys we have this name 5,000 times in the Bible.

So when they are talking about God, when they are reading their Bible, when they're praying, every time they saw the name of God, they thought we cannot say it.

So they change it for Adonai.

Since we cannot say, let's replace for something we we can say, Adonai.

Do you know what Adonai means?

Lord, Master.

But Adonai is not his name.

Adonai is a title.

You guys will graduate theology today.

You're doing great.

So in a in a high priest blessing, for example, it starts with the blessing, God bless, starts like that in the original.

Instead of saying, or or it starts with the peace of God, sorry, instead of saying peace of God, shalom.

When they are reading, they go shalom, Adonai.

Some Jews, instead of using Adonai, they will use a different word, and this word is Hashem.

Can you say that with me?

Hashem.

Hashem means the name.

So instead of saying the name, they are going Lord or they are going Hashem.

The name.

But you have five thousand times Lord.

Because they translated I am to Adonai.

Are you guys here with me?

So when you are reading your Bible and you see Lord and all the letters are capitalized, that's now when you are reading your your Bible and you see Lord and just the L is capitalized.

Adonai.

Yes?

Are you guys here with me?

Easy so far?

Can we complicate it a little bit?

Can we just make a little bit more?

A good translation, since we're just talking.

A good translation for this name, too, and it was funny because we had this conversation with staff this week.

A good translation for this name, even though I am, is great, but it's incomplete.

A good translation for this name, and it happens in in Bibles in French, is the eternal.

Some translations in English do that too.

The eternal.

Because if God is, was, and will be, his name is related with time.

And since there is no time for God, a good translation could be the eternal.

Just a couple of Bibles we see that translation, even though I think it's a good one.

Alright, let's complicate this just a little bit more.

Let me bring this closer to you.

Are you guys here with me?

So I told you that the precious name of God they were just afraid of saying, so every time they would replace for the word Adonai.

But Adonai, it's a completely different word.

Adonai in Hebrew is Aleph, Dalit, Nun, Yud.

This is Adonai.

Aleph, it's a it's a Guthrie letter in in Hebrew.

We don't we don't have a translation for that in English.

So that's nothing.

And then Dalit is a D, Nun N, and Yod Y.

So you can read.

You can read?

Adonai.

Adonai, kinda.

You know that because I already told you.

But in 600 after Christ, a group of Jews, um, we call them the Masoretic Jews, they decided to do something amazing to help us out.

They decided to add vows to the biblical Hebrew.

And that would be, that would change our lives forever, right?

So let's see Adonai, for example.

So what they did, they added uh.

Okay.

That's authority right here.

We're gonna save this subject for later.

But they decided to add a vowel here that we call hatefata.

It's uh well we don't have time for that, but they added a hole in here, and they added a a comet here.

So this is an A, this is O, and this is a different type of A.

So what they did is nothing A D O N A Y.

So now you can read Adonai.

They they did a phenomenal job, but nobody knows how to pronounce this name.

So what they did, they took the vows of Adonai and they inserted into the name of God.

They made a hybrid name here.

Since every time a Jew would say Adonai instead of this name, they took the vows and added to the name of God.

So what they did is they took the Hatef Patah here, which is an A, but it's only an A because this is a weak letter in Hebrew.

This is a strong letter, so when we take the A and put it here, it will change a little bit.

So instead of A, it's actually E.

And they they took the holin and they put it right here, and then they took the commits and they put it right here.

So let's try to read it now.

E or E, sorry, sorry, Y, E, H, O, W, A H.

And now the name of God is Yehova.

Or Yehovah.

Or Jehovah.

Is that the name of God for sure?

For sure not.

That's the hybrid between the name of God and Adonai.

And now we have Yehovah.

Some people will just say that it's Yahweh.

Some people will just say that it's Yahweh.

Some people will say that it's just Yah.

I don't know his name.

But I know something, and I'm gonna close like this.

Going to the practical side of theology.

Even though I don't know how to pronounce his name, I know I have access to this God who has a personal name.

And then in the New Testament, Jesus will say, When you go talk with God, you can just call him, Hey Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father.

Vinny, I don't know how to pronounce his name, but you can call him Father, you can call him good, he is open, he is available.

You have access to this God who doesn't exist but is.

You have access to this God who has a name that is above all other names, and nobody even knows how to pronounce his name because when God wants to show up, he hides himself.

That's our God, He is available, and I don't want you to walk away from this thinking I'm frustrated because I would love to know how to pronounce His name, me too.

And one day when we get there, we ask Him, Hey, by the way, how do you say that?

But right now, knowing how to pronounce His name doesn't change my life.

What changes my life is understanding He is available and ready to have a relationship with me and with you.

Let me tell you something.

Exodus chapter 20, verse 7, when the Bible says, Don't take the name of the God in take take the name of God in vain.

Exodus 20:7

They understood that as don't say the name of God.

What the Bible is trying to teach them and teach us right now is are you representing him well?

Even though you don't know how to pronounce his name when you go to Publix, to Walmart, to DMV, are you representing him well?

To a point that somebody will look at you and say, You have something different.

What is it?

Well, I serve a God who doesn't exist.

I serve a God who is I needed a bigger whiteboard for this.

But the third thing I wanted you to walk away with.

This South American theologian called James Heiss.

He said something very interesting.

He said, God offers what he is.

Can you say that with me?

God offers what he is, and what he means with that, what he means is throughout the Bible you will see that his name will be combined with some other words.

So in Genesis, we see this name combined with the word Jyra.

We say we see his name combined with the word hoi, we see his name combined with the word Hafa.

We see his name combined with the Lord with the with the word seed canoe.

And then in the past, I used to think, well, what the Bible is trying to teach us is God is the God of provision, God is the God who shepherds me, God is the God who heals, God is the God who has justice.

I don't think that's what the Bible is trying to teach us.

When when the Bible combines God's word, God's name with some other words.

Understand that God offers what He is.

It's not that the God has provision or has healing or has justice.

The Bible is trying to teach us that God, who is I am provision, I am pastor, I am healing, I am justice.

So if you need provision, you are not seeking God so God can provide for you.

You seek God because God is your provision.

If you need healing, you don't seek, you don't seek God because God can heal you.

You seek God because I am happy, I am the healing you are looking for.

What Pamela was just saying during offering.

God operating with miracles in an area of provision.

Guess what?

God doesn't have provision for you.

God is the provision for you.

He is provision, he is righteousness, he is pastor, he is healing, he is holiness, he is everything you need.

So stop seeking God to receive something from Him.

Seek God because He is what He needs.

What you need.

I am and forever be.

Lots of times in the Bible, God combines His personal name with some other words to show to me and to you I am the same God.

But I I want to operate in your life in so many different ways.

Just seek me.

So I want to encourage you with this.

Seek God.

And let God be in your life.

I am I am provision.

I am healing.

I am justice.

I am pastor.

Do you have an experience with Yahweh Jairah?

Do you have an experience with Yahweh Hafi?

Do you have an experience with Yahweh Roy?

It's just one God.

But He wants to operate in your life in different ways.

In different areas.

He is available.

I don't know your name, Jesus.

I don't know how to pronounce your name, God.

But I know you are available right now.

I know that I have a responsibility to represent you well.

Would you please teach us how to be a Christian that can glorify your name?

God, we don't want to seek you because you have something to give us.

We want to seek you because you are everything we need.

You are the great I am.

And we surrender our lives.

And maybe, God, someone this morning needs to have an experience with you.

Or with you, Yahweh Rafi.

Or with you, Yahweh Roy.

Would you please reveal yourself to us?

Let us understand a little bit more of who you are.

We worship you.

Because you don't exist.

You are and forever will be in Jesus' name.

We pray.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.